Thicker than Blood
by JoeyBear1424
Summary: here will be repercussions this time and Nori almost wants to make a joke. Ask him what the great Thorin Oakenshield is doing, slumming around with the whores. But she sees the glint of the razor and clenches her jaw shut as he lifts it to her beard. Now everyone will know. Fem!Nori and Fem!Bilbo.
1. Chapter 1

Every sort of man comes to Nori. Old men who seem to creak and pop with every step. Old men that have spent the evenings leering at her from behind mugs and licking their lips. Old men who slip extra coins into her hand whenever they leave.

Young men who only last for a couple minutes. Their hands are clumsy and unsure as they grope at her, eyes filled up with anxiousness that she'll grow tired of them and leave. Young men who walk away blushing to the roots of their hair and pretending they've lost their wallets.

Rough men who grab at her and clutch her like she might float away. Thrusting into her and pretending not to see the way she bites her lower lip, the tears pricking her eyes. The rough men who leave her in a heap, her legs sprawling out like a rag dolls as she attempts to clean herself up.

Drunken men who can barely walk in a straight line and nearly pull Nori down with them when they stumble. They usually pass out before clothes even come off, their snores heavy and loud. Nori doesn't feel a bit bad about helping herself to their wallets after they pass out.

Even the royals come to her on occasion; members of the guard come to her for her services. But when they visit they are not royals, not part of the court or guards. They are old men, young men, rough men, drunken men all looking for some sort of release. There are never any gentle men who come to see her. There are never any men who dip their head between her legs, stroke her gently. No men who hold her afterwards.

Her bed is the only place that Nori won't take the men. She'll go to their beds, inn beds, anywhere but her home. Anywhere but her bed. Because each time the door creaks open Dori knows she's home and he's there in the front room waiting for her. Sometimes his hair is half braided. Most of the time though, his hair is down, hanging loose and wild around his face. And sometimes Nori likes to believe that beneath all that fury and disappointment that she sees a scrap of worry in his eyes. The phrase 'embarrassment to the family' is thrown around a lot with Dori, his glare harsh as he stomps after her. Nori has learned to tune him out and pretend that he's not there. Especially whenever he asks if she has any idea what the others in Ered Luin are saying about her. She knows. She hears the words and the whispers that follow her as she ducks between buildings.

"Bad enough you're a thief but, but….To whore yourself out as well." Nori lets him vent. It's necessary for him to do this she knows. Dori will have his fit until like a balloon all the air has been let out of him. And then when he realizes what he's said Dori will deflate, sinking into a chair and hanging his head between his knees. The words still hang heavy in the air though and it takes too much energy to talk to him, too much energy to hear Dori's apologies that he doesn't really mean. It's easier to pull the coins that she's earned, hand over the teas that she's stolen and just drop them in front of Dori.

Later when she smells the heavy, sweet herbal scent of tea brewing she knows that he's sorry. She knows that he's fretting and wants to knock on her door, force feed her some breakfast, fix her braids and just be Dori. And knowing this makes it all the harder to slip out of the window.

For a while there are no repercussions. Not for 'whoring herself out' as Dori likes to put it. For the thieving there is jail and games of cat and mouse with the guards. And Nori almost always wins. But then comes the day she finds herself before the disgraced king, his face hard as stone. There will be repercussions this time and Nori almost wants to make a joke. Ask him what the great Thorin Oakenshield is doing, slumming around with the whores. But she sees the glint of the razor and clenches her jaw shut as he lifts it to her beard. Now everyone will know. Now everyone will see her and shake their heads. They will turn and whisper. Pretend to not see her. This is all because a wife found out about her husband cheating and she wants revenge. Nori is forced to watch as her beard is handed over to the wife in question. The woman clutches it tightly, her grip knuckle white as she scowls at Nori. Beside her stands her husband, his own beard shorn. Now everyone will know.

"Slumming around with the whores?" Nori spits after the husband and wife have walked away. "Has the great Thorin Oakenshield fallen so far?"

"I am sorry that I had to do that Nori. She is not the only wife that has come to guards demanding punishment for their husband's adultery. That particular dwarrowdam asked we make it obvious which dwarf it was—so that none would come to a disgraced dwarf. I did not wish to risk you being harmed by a scorned wife or angry husband. Nor could I risk acts of vandalism because I would not do anything."

Knowing she's a thief is one thing. It's almost enjoyable to watch people stare in wonder as she runs throughout the market, jumping over vendor's stalls and laughing with delight as she moves just out of a guards grasp. It's fun to have others play witness to her game of cat and mouse with them. It almost makes it honorable in her opinion. But for everyone to know this, she feels dirty. Dirtier than when rough men leave her bleeding in alleyways. Dirtier than when young boys pull out and decorate her belly with their seed. Dirtier than when the old men make her do a nasty trick for an extra coin or two. Dirty. Dirty. Dirty. Dirty. The word bounces around in her head as she moves towards home. She doesn't go in.

Dori will be up she knows and will confront her. He'll look at her and know what a disgusting disgraced dwarf she is. This time won't be like the others though because she knows now Dori will cry. His face will crumple and he will ask her why, why would she do this. How could she do this? And Nori will have no answer other than she's a dirty, disgusting, desperate dwarrowdam who doesn't know how else to help him. She just wants to help him. She will help him now. Nori waits until all the lights are outside and she can hear Dori's anxious shuffling move towards his bedroom.

When his sobs start she stuffs the sleeve of her jacket into her mouth, biting down and trying in vain to stop her own sobs from escaping. Dori is not a loud crier but the night is silent and his cries seem loud enough to shake the mountain until it crumbles into dust. Nori though does not cry, she will not cry. She doesn't cry as she shoves things into a pack. She doesn't cry as she counts out some coins to get Dori through the next couple months. She doesn't cry as she scribbles him a quick letter. She doesn't cry until she's out of the window and the cold wind hits her hairless cheeks.

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><p>Completely ignoring canon and timelines because it's my story and I can do whatever I want.<p>

How I update: Because of my school schedule and life problems right now I will probably write during the weekdays and then try to update either on Friday nights or some time on the weekends.

I start writing the next chapters when I get reviews...Hint hint ;) and if your review is just to complain about me making Nori and Bilbo females then why are you reading it?


	2. Chapter 2

After a few hours Nori stops crying. After a few days she stops hoping that Dori will come find her. After a few weeks she stops hoping all together. With each town she passes through people stare at her bare cheeks. Some of them whisper about her and she hears whispers asking: 'aren't dwarves supposed to have beards?' and another saying 'not sure it's a dwarf at all'. And Nori wonders about that too. Is she a dwarf anymore? That idea is thrown out as quickly as it comes into her mind. Of course she's a dwarf. And she's still a thief. Even if she can no longer pickpocket, can no longer run from guards. Even if people stare at her unsurely. Even if her stomach grumbles and groans loudly, twisting with hunger. And even if her long hair is unkempt and filthy; thick with tangles and knots, despite her efforts to comb it. Without Dori here to comb it out and braid it, it's not the same.

It hangs in her face now as she stumbles from the inn. The taste of blood is thick in her mouth, metallic and bitter as she glares over her shoulder. The inn keeper stands there in the doorway, his arms over his chest. All she had tried to do was snatch some bread from a passed out drunks table. Her stomach still twists with hunger and now her mouth is dribbling with blood as she walks away from the inn. She can remember a time that Dori said anger never solved anything but right now stomping and kicking at the ground seems appropriate as she walks.

It's not until she stops to kick at a wall that Nori stops, sinking to the ground with a sniffle. Her foot aches in her boot now, her mouth tastes strongly of blood and Nori wants nothing more than sleep. She wants nothing more than to just curl up in a warm bed after a bath and hot meal. But the last of her coins have been spent on the inn, wasted on a room she didn't even get to stay in. Nori rubs at her arms miserably, cursing her luck.

She curses Dori for being the way that he is. She curses her family for being so poor. Most of all though Nori curses herself for cursing these things. With each step she curses louder and louder, her voice rising in volume. People turn and stare at her, eyes wide as Nori walks out of the town. With each step she takes farther away from the town the louder she gets until finally Nori stops and screams. It's an animalistic sound, raw and foreign as she falls down on her knees. And for the first time since she left home Nori cries.

She lies down on her side and draws her knees to her chest, allowing herself to cry. She has no idea where she is, no money and no food. Surrounding her is forest, the town of men far behind her. Nori cries and cries until she feels like her body has cleaned out, until her face is puffy and her eyes are red. With no money, no food and no other options for her exhausted body Nori allows herself to sleep. Even as the first droplet of rain plops down onto her cheek, Nori sleeps through it. She sleeps as it turns into a downpour, soaking her through. Her exhausted body sleeps until finally the shakes begin and Nori wakes up with a start.

Nori groans as she rubs at her eyes. It's nearly impossible to see through the downpour, the sound heavy and thick. She attempts to stand up only to find her feet sliding through mud. She grits her teeth and digs her fingers into the mud, giving it another go only to find herself now lying face down.

"So this is how it's supposed to end." Nori grumbles into the mud. What a way to end she thinks miserably. Freezing cold, soaked to the bone and alone as the rain pours down on her. Nori closes her eyes and tries to fall asleep once more, waiting for the end to come. She pulls her soaking cloak tighter around herself and closes her eyes, trying hard to pretend that she's home in her own bed. She's rolling around in a pile of stolen goods and grinning about outrunning the guards. It's with that thought that Nori finally allows herself to fall asleep. She doesn't wake up to the sound of hoof beats nor does she feel the hand shaking her shoulder at first. Nori bats weakly at the hand, trying in vain to push it away.

"Now, now, none of that. Come on now, come back into the light. There you are." A woman says softly. Someone clicks their tongue and Nori finds herself being flung across a pony's back. Someone mounts the pony behind her, hands wrapping around her. Through her soaking cloak Nori feels the faintest hint of warmth but she reasons that it's all just a dream and allows herself to go back to sleep, back into her dreams where she rolls around in stolen goods and piles of gold. For a long time Nori rolls around in her stolen goods and gold, throwing them in the air and laughing joyfully as they rain down around her. She's perfectly happy to stay in this world forever but then comes the tugging.

Nori cracks her eyes open to find herself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling as someone tugs at her boots. They come off with a wet 'squelch' and the person tugging at them sighs as they move onto her socks.

"Here put the boots by the fire Bungo." The person talking has a commanding, hurried tone as they order the other one, Bungo to do things. The person with the commanding voice keeps giving orders and Nori hears the sounds of people bustling around.

"She won't stop shivering." This voice is younger and somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind Nori realizes that its right, her pile of gold offers little warmth.

"I know Bell, that's why I need you to keep feeding the fire. Bungo go help Hamfast in the kitchen. I want tea ready when we need." Tea, Nori's not sure she can drink right now. That sounds like too much work. Right now the person giving all the commands is finishing peeling off her clothes and now they're replacing it with blankets. Nori groans and attempts to tell them, order them even to give her clothes back but all that comes out is something slurred.

"Don't warm her hands and feet quite yet Bell. That'll do more harm than good." The commanding voice is more gentle now but not calmer.

"Miss Belladonna? What's wrong with her?" The voice Bell asks.

"Hypothermia and it seems like she's been in a couple of fights. She could use a decent meal or two by the look of things. She'll need lots of rest." From the commanding voice comes a sigh.

"Is there anything else I can do?" Bell asks.

"Just put her clothes by the fire and get me some dry things. Then go sit in the kitchen with Bungo and Hamfast, have yourself some tea. Feel free to heat up leftovers. I'll be a while with her." And Nori hears the scraping of a chair across the floor that settles next to her. The last thing she feels is another blanket being put on top of her as a strange woman joins her in the pile of gold, telling her to come back into the light.

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><p>I hope that I represented hypothermia accurately and we will see Bilbo in a few chapters most likely. If anyone is wondering what her age is, it's thirty two. Feeling kind of sick right now so I don't feel much like writing. The last thing I'm going to say is I can totally see Belladonna as a take charge woman who when she says do something, you better just do it.<p>

Thank you so much to ERidg17; Tommy14; Nori'sLilThief; The Child Who Cried Blood; Anaeliap and Estelwing for the follows and favorites! They are greatly appreciated!

Sour: Yes, Nori and Bilbo do eventually end up together. It's going to be slow burn (or my attempt at slow burn) and I hope that you enjoy this story!


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